Music of South Africa
Encyclopedia
The South Africa
n music
scene includes both popular
(jive) and folk
forms. Pop styles are based on four major sources, Zulu
isicathamiya
singing and harmonic mbaqanga
. South Africa is very diverse, with many native African Ethnic group
s as well as European and Indian peoples.
s provided the first organized musical training in the country, bringing to light many of the modern country's earliest musicians, including Enoch Sontonga
, who wrote the national anthem
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika
. By the end of the nineteenth century, South African cities like Cape Town
were large enough to attract foreign musicians, especially American ragtime
players. African American
spiritual
s were popularized in the 1890s by Orpheus McAdoo's Jubilee Singers.lol
which kept the night life in Johannesburg
relatively small for a city of its size (then the largest city south of the Sahara
). Marabi
, a style from the slums of Johannesburg, was popular.
Marabi was played on piano
s with accompaniment from pebble-filled cans, often in shebeen
s, establishments that illegally served alcohol to blacks. By the 1930s, however, marabi had incorporated new instruments, guitar
s, concertina
s and banjo
s, and new styles of marabi had sprung up. Among these were a marabi/swing fusion called African jazz and jive, a generic term for any popular marabi style of music.
South African popular music began in 1912 with the first commercial recordings, but only began booming after 1930 when Eric Gallo's Brunswick Gramophone House sent several South African musicians to London to record for Singer Records. Gallo went on to begin producing music in South Africa, beginning in 1933. His company, Gallo Record Company
, remains the largest and most successful label in South Africa, having had acclaimed artists such as Solomon Linda
, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
, Miriam Makeba
, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
and many more pass through the recording studios.
' "Wimoweh" (1951) and The Tokens
' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight
" (1961). Linda's music was in a style that came to be known as mbube
. From the late 1940s to the 1960s, a harsh, strident form called isikhwela jo was popular, though national interest waned in the 50s until Radio Zulu began broadcasting to Natal, Transvaal
and the Orange Free State
in 1962 (see 1950s: Bantu Radio and pennywhistle for more details).
Also formed in this era, the Stellenbosch University Choir
, part of the University of Stellenbosch, is the oldest running choir in the country and was formed in 1936 by William Morris
, also the first conductor of the Choir. The current conductor is Andre van der Merwe. They specialise in a cappella music and consist of students from the University.
folk styles, along with French
and German
influences, in the early twentieth century. Zydeco
-type string bands led by a concertina were popular, as were elements of American country music
, especially Jim Reeves
. Bushveld music based on the Zulu
were reinterpreted by such singers as Marais and Miranda
. Melodramatic and sentimental songs called trane trekkers (tear jerkers) were especially common. In 1996 the South African Music scene changed from the Tranetrekkers to more lively sounds and the introduction of new names in the market with the likes of Nádine, Kurt Darren and Nicolis Louw. Afrikaans music is currently one of the most popular and best selling industries on the South African music scene.
After World War I
, Afrikaner
nationalism spread and musicians like accordion
ist Nico Carstens
were popular.
s. Though the government had expected Bantu Radio to play folk music, African music had developed into numerous pop genres, and the nascent recording studios used radio to push their pop stars. The new focus on radio led to a government crackdown on lyrics, censoring songs which were considered a "public hazard".
). Black cattle-herders had long played a three-holed reed flute, adopting a six-holed flute when they moved to the cities. Willard Cele is usually credited with creating pennywhistle by placing the six-holed flute between his teeth at an angle. Cele spawned a legion of imitators and fans, especially after appearing in the 1951 film The Magic Garden
.
Groups of flautists played on the streets of South African cities in the 1950s, many of them in white areas, where police would arrest them for creating a public disturbance. Some young whites were attracted to the music, and came to be known as ducktails,
style by the end of the decade.
By the 1960s, the saxophone was commonplace in jive music, the performance of which continued to be restricted to townships. The genre was called sax jive and later mbaqanga
. Mbaqanga literally means dumpling but implies home-made and was coined by Michael Xaba, a jazz saxophonist who did not like the new style.
The early 1960s also saw performers like bassist Joseph Makwela and guitarist Marks Mankwane add electric instruments and marabi and kwela influences to the mbaqanga style, leading to a funkier and more African sound.
Mbaqanga developed vocal harmonies during the very early 1960s when groups like The Skylarks
and the Manhattan Brothers
began copying American vocal bands, mostly doo wop. Rather than African American four part harmonies, however, South African bands used five parts. The Dark City Sisters
were the most popular vocal group in the early 1960s, known for their sweet style. Aaron Jack Lerole of Black Mambazo added groaning male vocals to the female harmonies, later being replaced by Simon 'Mahlathini' Nkabinde
, who has become perhaps the most influential and well-known South African "groaner" of the twentieth century. Marks Mankwane and Joseph Makwela's mbaqanga innovations evolved into the more danceable mgqashiyo sound when the two joined forces with Mahlathini and the new female group Mahotella Queens
, in Mankwane's backing group Makhona Tsohle Band (also featuring Makwela along with saxophonist-turned-producer West Nkosi
, rhythm guitarist Vivian Ngubane, and drummer Lucky Monama). The Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens/Makhona Tsohle outfit recorded as a studio unit for Gallo Record Company
, to great national success, pioneering mgqashiyo music all over the country to equal success.
1967 saw the arrival of Izintombi Zesi Manje Manje, an mgqashiyo female group that provided intense competition for Mahotella Queens. Both groups were massive competitors in the jive field, though the Queens usually came out on top.
from the United States. Singers like Wilson Pickett
and Percy Sledge
were especially popular, and inspired South African performers to enter the field with an organ, a bass-and-drum rhythm section and an electric guitar.
Jazz in the 1960s split into two fields. Popular dance bands like the Elite Swingsters were popular, while avant-garde jazz inspired by the work of John Coltrane
, Thelonious Monk
and Sonny Rollins
was also common. The latter field of musicians included prominent activists and thinkers, including Hugh Masekela
, Abdullah Ibrahim
(formerly known as 'Dollar Brand'), Kippie Moeketsi
, Sathima Bea Benjamin
, Chris McGregor
, Johnny Dyani
and Jonas Gwangwa
. In 1959, American pianist John Mehegan
organized a recording session using many of the most prominent South African jazz musicians, resoluting in the first two African jazz LPs. The following year saw the Cold Castle National Jazz Festival, which brought additional attention to South African jazz. Cold Castle became an annual event for a few years, and brought out more musicians, especially Dudu Pukwana
, Gideon Nxumalo and Chris McGregor
. The 1963 festival produced a LP called Jazz The African Sound, but government oppression soon ended the jazz scene. Again, many musicians emigrated to the UK or other countries.
While the African Jazz of the north of South Africa was being promoted in Johannesburg, musicians in Cape Town were awakening to their jazz heritage. The port city had a long history of musical interaction with sea faring players. The rise of the Coon Carnival and the visionary talent of Abdullah Ibrahim ('Dollar Brand') and his sax players, Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen stumbled upon Cape Jazz
. It was an improvised version of their folk songs with musical reference to European and American jazz which would go on some 20 years later to be South Africa's most important Jazz export.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
, headed by the sweet soprano of Joseph Shabalala
, arose in the 1960s, and became perhaps the biggest isicathamiya
stars in South Africa's history. Their first album was 1973's Amabutho
, which was also the first gold record by black musicians; it sold over 25,000 copies. Ladysmith Black Mambazo remained popular throughout the next few decades, especially after 1986, when Paul Simon
, an American musician, included Ladysmith Black Mambazo on his extremely popular Graceland
album and its subsequent tour of 1987.
With progressive jazz hindered by governmental suppression, marabi-styled dance bands rose to more critical prominence in the jazz world. The music became more complex and retained popularity, while progressive jazz produced only occasional hits, like Winston Ngozi's "Yakal Nkomo" and Abdullah Ibrahim's "Mannenburg".
boom of the late 1970s, UK punk-influenced South African bands like Wild Youth and Powerage gained a cult following, focused in Durban
whilst in and around Johannesburg
bands such as Dog Detachment and The Radio Rats and Young Dumb & Violent had a similar following on the fringes of the music scene. Cape Town also had its own scene with the Safari Suits, House Wives Choice, Lancaster Band, The News and Permanent Force (aka Private File after BOSS intervention) taking the lead, soon followed by the Rude Dementals, Fred Smith Band and Riot Squad. Many gigs took place at The Scratch Club (run by Gerry Dixon and Henry Coombes), UCT and other local venues,and some of the aforementioned bands passed through on tours.
. In 1976, South African children rebelled en masse against apartheid and governmental authority, and a vibrant, youthful counterculture was created, with music as an integral part of its focus. Styles from before the 1970s fusion of disco and soul were not widely regarded, and were perceived as being sanctioned by the white oppressors. Few South African bands gained a lasting success during this period, however, with the exception of the Movers, who used marabi elements in their soul. The Movers were followed by the Soul Brothers, and the instrumental band The Cannibals
, who soon began working with singer Jacob "Mpharanyana" Radebe. The coloured (not black) band Flames also gained a following, and soon contributed two members (Blondie Chaplin
and Ricky Fataar
) to American band The Beach Boys
. Harari
arose in their place, eventually moving to an almost entirely rock and roll sound. One of Harari's members, Sipho 'Hotstix' Mabuse
became a superstar in the 1980s.
bands like The Usual and Scooter's Union. In and around Johannesburg the growth of the independent music scene led to not just a surge of bands ranging from big names (relatively speaking) Tribe after Tribe, The Dynamics and The Softies through to smaller hopefuls What Colours, Days Before and No Exit, but also to the growth of a vibrant DIY fanzine scene with "Palladium" and "One Page to Many" two titles of note.
South African alternative rock grew more mainstream with two leading bands, Asylum Kids from Johannesburg and Peach
from Durban having chart success and releasing critically acclaimed albums. The burgeoning music scene around Johannesburg saw a surge of small bands, inspired and informed by the UK DIY punk ethic, form and start performing at a growing number of venues from clubs the likes of Metalbeat, Bluebeat, King of Clubs, DV8 and Dirtbox to student run venues such as GR Bozzoli Hall and later the Free People Concert on the University of the Witwatersrand
campus.
One artist of specific note to come from this era was James Phillips
who was involved with several influential and important bands including Corporal Punishment; Cherry Faced Lurchers; and his Afrikaans alter ego Bernoldus Niemand (roughly translates as Bernard Nobody). With his Bernoldus Niemand character, James managed to cross the language division and influence a whole range of Afrikaans speaking musicians to the same punk ethic that had inspired him, and an important Afrikaans alternative rock scene grew from this influence.
During this period, the only Afrikaners to achieve much mainstream fame were Anton Goosen, a rock singer-songwriter, and Bles Bridges
, an imitator of American lounge
singer Wayne Newton
.
line-up reunited with Mahlathini and the Makgona Tsohle Band in 1983, due to unexpected demand from mgqashiyo and mbaqanga fans. Ladysmith Black Mambazo
took their first step into the international arena via Paul Simon
on his Graceland
album in 1986, where a series of reissue albums by US label Shanachie sold very well. Mambazo became world travellers, touring the world and collaborating with various Western musicians to massive success. The Graceland album not only propelled Mambazo into the spotlight, but paved the way for other South African acts (including Mahlathini and the Queens, Amaswazi Emvelo, Moses Mchunu, Ray Phiri and Stimela, and others) to become known worldwide as well.
Johnny Clegg
got his start in the 1970s playing Zulu-traditional music with Sipho Mchunu
, and became prominent as the only major white musician playing traditional black music, achieving success in France as "Le Zoulou Blanc" (The White Zulu). The 1980s also saw a resurgence in rock and roll bands like The Helicopters
, Petit Cheval
, Sterling
and Tellinger
.
from Jamaica. Following international superstar Bob Marley
's concert celebrating Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, reggae took hold across Africa. Lucky Dube
was the first major South African artists; his style was modelled most closely on that of Peter Tosh
. Into the 1990s, Lucky Dube was one of the best-selling artists in South African history, especially his 1990 album Slave. The 90s also saw Jamaican music move towards ragga
, an electronic style that was more influential on kwaito
(South African hip hop music
) than reggae.
A group from the Free State called Oyaba also emerged during this period. Their best known hit songs are Tomorrow Nation, Paradise
and Love Crazy
. Reggae became quite popular and there was also a singer from KwaZulu-Natal
, Sipho Johnson known as Jumbo
who gave the likes of Lucky Dube
quite a scare.
was a form of pure South African pop music that arose in the middle of the 1980s, distinctively based on vocals with overlapping call-and-response vocals. Electronic keyboards and synthesizers were commonplace. Dan Tshanda of the band Splash
was the first major bubblegum star, followed by Chicco Twala. Twala introduced some politically oriented lyrics, such as "We Miss You Manelo" (a coded tribute to Nelson Mandela
) and "Papa Stop the War", a collaboration with Mzwakhe Mbuli
.
The late 1980s saw the rise of Yvonne Chaka Chaka
, beginning with her 1984 hit "I'm In Love With a DJ", which was the first major hit for bubblegum. Her popularity rose into the 1990s, especially across the rest of Africa and into Europe. Chaka Chaka's first major rival was Brenda Fassie
, whose popularity began with 1993's Amagents; since becoming embroiled in numerous scandals as well as drug problems before her death in 2004. Jabu Khanyile
's Bayete and teen heart-throb Ringo have also become very popular.
-language music saw a resurgence in the 1980s as the Voëlvry ("free as a bird" or "outlawed") movement reflected a new Afrikaans artistic counter-culture largely hostile to the values of the National Party
and conservative Afrikanerdom. Spearheaded by the singer-songwriter Johannes Kerkorrel
and his Gereformeerde Blues Band, the movement (which was named after Kerkorrel's 1989 regional tour) also included musicians Bernoldus Niemand (aka James Phillips) and Koos Kombuis
. Voëlvry tapped into a growing dissatisfaction with the Apartheid system amongst white Afrikaans speakers, and thus Voëlvry represents the musical branch of opposition that was paralleled by literature and the arts. For an overview of the context of Voëlvry, see Elbie Adendorff's article on www.litnet.co.za, "Die Voëlvry-beweging se groter konteks" (The Voëlvry movement's larger context).
became known as a premier hip hop
crew, though a South Africanized style of hip hop known as kwaito
soon replaced actual hip hop groups. In kwaito, synthesizers and other electronic instruments are common, and slow jams adopted from Chicago house
musicians like The Fingers, Tony Humphries
and Robert Owen
are also standard. Stars of kwaito include Trompies
, Bongo Maffin
and Boom Shaka
. The band Tree63
also emerged, first known for their hit single, "A Million Lights" and then further popularized by their version of Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name".
, whose 1995 album Shwele Baba was extremely popular. Malope continues to record, in addition to performers such as Lusanda Spiritual Group, Barorisi Ba Morena, Amadodana Ase Wesile, Vuyo Mokoena and International Pentacoastal Church Choir, Lundi, Joyous Celebration, and the upcoming Scent From Above who have performed in Botswana occasionally.In 2000's Deborah Fraser has emerged as the best selling Gospel artist.Her albums have been audited to be in Top 5 selling in the country.In her album Isililo,Debrah Fraser sang in all South African languages like Venda,Shangaan,Sotho,Zulu and Xhosa.The industry has also been joined by the likes of Hlengiwe Mhlaba(whose Aphendule is popular) and Solly Moholo.
- KKNK" in Oudtshoorn, "Aardklop
" in Potchefstroom and "Innibos" in Nelspruit.
Apart from dozens of new songs being introduced into the Afrikaans music market, it became popular for modern young artists to sing old Afrikaans songs on a stage or in a pub, with crowds of young admirers singing along. The reason for the dramatic increase in the popularity of Afrikaans music can only be speculated about. One theory is that the end of Apartheid in 1994 also meant the end of the privileged position that the Afrikaans culture had in South Africa. After losing the privileged protection and promotion of the language and the culture by the State, the Afrikaans-speaking community seems to have spontaneously started embracing and developing their language and culture. This was due to pop artists like Steve Hofmeyr, Nádine
, Kurt Darren, and Nicolis Louw bringing a new fresh sound in Afrikaans Music. Many of the songs sung and/or written by these artist are similar in sound to Euro dance music. Critics would claim that all an Afrikaans pop artist needs for a song to be popular is a catchy tune and an easy beat. This is due to the massive popularity of a form of couples dancing called "langarm" or "sokkie". The dance halls where this takes place could be considered as night clubs but they play almost exclusively Afrikaans pop music. The Afrikaans pop music market therefore generates tremendous demand for new material.
to more the abstract and personal. Major festivals like Oppikoppi
and Woodstock were started and grew steadily, firmly cementing the niche under predominantly white university students exploring a newfound intellectual independence after the fall of apartheid. The first band to reach any major recognition was Springbok nude girls
established in 1994 whose most recognisable song is the ballad 'Blue Eyes'. Other notable acts established in this decade were Fetish, Wonderboom
(est. 1996), Boo!
(est. 1997), Henry Ate
, Just Jinger
(est. 1996) and Battery 9
.
band was The Awakening
, formed in 1995 by vocalist, guitarist and producer Ashton Nyte
. The band is credited in major national press as "South Africa's most successful Gothic Rock act and one of the top bands in the far broader Alternative scene" and headlined major national festivals throughout South Africa, including the country's largest music festival Woodstock, in addition to Oppikoppi
and RAMfest. With more than a dozen top ten national singles between 1998 and 2007, The Awakening
were the first goth-styled act to have major success in South Africa.
The band Silex formed in 1998 but broke up shortly after releasing their debut album 'Legendary Beauty' under Ashton Nite's record label Intervention Arts. Other notable goth artist are Mr Barleycorn and the Eternal Chapter, which had a hit with the cover "Here comes the man" originally by Boom Boom Room
.
bands were the Kraftreaktor and The Kiwi Experience. Jay Sonton and Ruediger Keller from Kraftreaktor and the Kiwi Experience performed at several raves, playing mainly electronic body music. Their music was mainly influenced by European artists, but included a unique South African touch. They mainly integrated African samples to localize their sound.
beats, but typically at a slower tempo and containing melodic and percussive African samples which are looped, deep basslines and often vocals, generally male, shouted or chanted rather than sung or rapped. Many consider it South Africa
's unique implementation of hip hop
.
) was named best-selling album of the year. The massive purchasing power of the Afrikaner minority is partly to thank for this.
In 2007 an Afrikaans song about Boer War
general Koos de la Rey
by Bok van Blerk became a hit amid fierce debate on whether it represented a call to arms for the reinstatement of Afrikaner rule or just expressed cultural nostalgia.
While the boom in the Afrikaans pop industry has continued from the previous decade as the popularity of the arts festivals and dance halls have stayed strong, other Afrikaans music genres experienced a revival of sorts in the new millennium. Rock and alternative Afrikaans music had stagnated somewhat after the heady days of the "Voëlvry" tour and the alternative movement. Signs of a revival could be found in the arrival of Karen Zoid
on the music scene with her attention grabbing alternative sound. Shortly after a band of young punk rockers arrived on the scene called "Fokofpolisiekar
". They were a revelation in that nobody had done punk rock in Afrikaans before. Their controversial name (translated as Fuckoffpolicecar), statements and behaviour certainly helped draw attention. This band certainly wasn't the only one to start the revival of Afrikaans Rock but they certainly seemed to be the symbol of it. Lead singer Francois Van Coke and songwriter Hunter Kennedy have gone on to explore other genres of music also not previously popular in Afrikaans and have found success. Shortly after the arrival of this and other rock acts, the first Afrikaans television music channel was opened which focused mainly on rock music. The Afrikaans (and English) rock and alternative music scene has been booming ever since. Bands like Battery9, Terminatrix, NuL, K.O.B.U.S. and Thys Nywerheid
continue to reinvent alternative Afrikaans music, while Jack Parow
has continued the Cape's development of Afrikaans rap from pioneers Brasse vannie Kaap
, finding success as far afield as Holland with his 2009 single "Cooler as Ekke".
BLK JKS
' experimental Afro-rock introduced an entirely new genre into the world's rock scene, taking inspiration from The Mars Volta
to blend their Zulu heritage and township origins with modern sounds and equipment and an approach to music-making that seems entirely devoid of boundaries, while maintaining the sweet melodies and rhythmic qualities of South Africa's traditional music. They received an important boost after performing in Opening Ceremony of 2010 FIFA World Cup
.
Die Antwoord
's irreverent approach to hiphop also broke boundaries with its filthy-mouthed blend of English, Afrikaans and local slang, and sparse House-influenced production, reflecting the new 'Zef' counter-culture in its cheap-and-dirty values. The band achieved a worldwide frenzy of attention with their self-published debut thanks to two bizarre and humorous YouTube music videos released in 2010 that rapidly reached viral proportions. The intrigued international public was divided between disgust, disbelief, and enthrallment - this was enough to secure an album deal with Cherrytree Records
, an imprint of Interscope.
The emergence of these groups has immense importance for South African music culture. Although in many ways polar opposites, they are both bringing South African culture to the forefront of musical development, and receiving global recognition, as with other recent events such as the Soccer World Cup and the 2009 release of District 9
. Although single-race, experimental, and globally minded, they are both are enthusiastically and unashamedly open to the other South African cultures. These are important factors for a country that still feels very much internally divided and cut off from the rest of the world.
scene began in the mid nineties. In 2000, events such as Homegrown
became a prominent fixture in Cape Town
and a launching platform for international and local artists such as Counterstrike
, SFR
, Niskerone, Tasha Baxter, Anti Alias and Rudeone. Other regular events include It Came From The Jungle in Cape Town
and Science Friksun in Johannesburg
.
A weekly Sublime drum and bass radio show is hosted by Hyphen on Bush Radio
.
music that started and is produced mostly in South Africa
. Unlike the Russian dark psytrance
, South African psytrance is more rhythmic, melodic and danceable, yet keeps the 'nasty-like' attitude.
, whose success has seen her hailed as the "new Miriam Makeba
", with her unique combination of jazz, pop, and traditional music. Another similar young singer is Thandiswa Mazwai
, originally a kwaito singer with Bongo Maffin
. Thandiswa combined local hip-hop rhythms with traditional Xhosa sounds, creating a rich textured style. 2006 saw the rise of Shwi Nomtekhala, a duo combining mbaqanga
rhythms and maskandi sounds. The duo have become one of the most influential new acts on the music scene today, outselling even kwaito artists. Their debut album Wangisiza Baba was a major hit in the country. Cape Town
based female artist Verity
has been recognized internationally for innovation in the music industry for selling 2000 copies of her album Journey
before it was actually recorded. Another up and coming group "2 and a Half Secondz" is on the rising from Delft in Cape Town in 2009.
Nianell
, the South African Superstar, is also another internationally recognized artist in modern South African music, combing Folk, Classical, Pop, Country, and Celtic music that make her own unique sound. She has released 7 albums with songs that switches back and forth in Afrikaans and English. Her first platinum hit that sold over 2 million copies was "Who Painted The Moon" that was also covered by international superstar [Hayley Westenra]. In early 2011, she made her initial debut in the U.S. with her U.S. compilation album "Who Painted The Moon".
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
remain one of the world's most popular choral groups and still retain popularity in South Africa, with their latest offering being the highly praised Ilembe
(2007/2008). The legendary group boasts three grammy wins. The Mahotella Queens
also remain high-selling, and - with the death of long-time groaner Mahlathini in 1999 - have recorded several new albums, including their 2007 release Siyadumisa (Songs of Praise)
. 2008 has also seen the return of a former singer with the Mahotella Queens, Irene Mawela. Mawela appeared on thousands of mbaqanga and mgqashiyo recording sessions well throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, recording mainly for Gallo Record Company, often as part of the line-ups of the Mahotella Queens, the Mgababa Queens, Izintombi Zomgqashiyo, and also under her own name (though sometimes as Irene & The Sweet Melodians, or Irene & The Zebra Queens). In 1983 she left the company to record as a solo artist, with a successful Venda-traditional release Khanani Yanga. Mawela left the music business in the late 1980s, but returned in November 2007 with a brand-new album called Tlhokomela Sera, which combines modern contemporary sounds with pure gospel music, making what Mawela calls "gospel jive".
The music scene in South Africa is focused around 4 major areas, Johannesburg
, Cape Town
, Durban
and Bloemfontein
. One of the characteristics of the scene is the strong sense of community which sees artist, promoters and venues all actively involved in developing the local talent. Bloemfontein
's music focus is centred predominantly around the metal and Afrikaans genres. Johannesburg
, Cape Town
and Durban are far more wide ranging in the genres of music covered by bands and artists. Cape Town
is a hot bed for the underground music scene, generally held to be more experimental than the music produced in the other centres.
The introduction of the South African Music Awards
(SAMA), intended to recognise accomplishment in the South African recording industry has raised the awareness of local artists and bands. The awards are given in various categories, including album of the year, best newcomer, best artists (male and female) and the best duo or group. South African Music Award winners include Karen Zoid
, Freshlyground
, Tasha Baxter and Seether
.
South Africa has several annual music festivals including MotherFudd, Oppikoppi
, Rocking the Daisies and Splashy Fen
. The music festivals cater to different genres and styles of music. Motherfudd is an exclusively metal festival held early in the year. The 2008 Motherfudd festival had a line-up of 30 bands with 2 stages and took place near Hartebeespoort. The Oppikoppi
festival started in 1994 and is held in the Limpopo
Province of South Africa
, near the mining town of Northam. Originally a rock festival, Oppikoppi
has expanded to include other genres. Splashy Fen
is an annual Easter festival held on a farm near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal
, with a focus on rock and reggae music. Rocking the Daisies is an annual music festival which is held outside Cape Town in Darling on the Cloof wine estate. It was established in 2005 with a focus upon rock music & is a 'green' festival for which it has garnered awards.
South Africa has a growing field of music journalism. Print based publications focussed on South African music are SAM (South African Music & Entertainment tabloid), and South African Music News. Internet based journalism can be found on SAMusic.co.za, Speakerbox, Strum, The Rock Finder, More Than Music, Amplify and Sixlove.
to develop a genre called mohobelo.
By the 1970s, the concertina of Sotho-traditional music was replaced with an accordion and an electric backing band. This wave of neo-traditional performers was led by Tau Ea Mat'sekha.
Since the 1970s, the concertina has returned to Zulu-traditional music, while diverse influences from pop music and drum and bass were added. Vusi Ximba's Siyakudamisa (1992) was perhaps the most memorable Zulu-traditional album of the later twentieth century, and drew controversy for racy, comedic lyrics.
More modern Tsonga bands, such as General MD Shirinda & the Gaza Sisters play a style called Tsonga disco, featuring a male lead vocalist backed by female singers, a guitar, keyboard or synth and disco rhythms. Thomas Chauke & the Shinyori Sisters (Tusk Records) have become probably the best-selling band of any neo-traditional style. The most popular Tsonga musician, however, has arguably been either the pop singer Peta Teanet
or the equally successful Penny Penny.
Paul Ndlovu is another artist who has contributed a lot in this genre, with his popular hit, hi ta famba moyeni.
. The German autoharp
arrived in South Africa in the nineteenth century, brought by Lutheran ministers proselytizing among the Pedi. Harepa has not achieved much mainstream success in South Africa, though there was a brief boom in the 1970s, led by Johannes Mohlala.
Irene Mawela (who had been singing in the 1960s and 1970s with groups like Mahotella Queens
, Sweet Sixteens and the Dark City Sisters
) made a huge mark in traditional and contemporary Venda music, despite vocal recordings in Zulu, Sotho and Xhosa languages. Mawela's 1983 release, Khanani Yanga, was one of the most successful Venda-traditional music albums of that year. After some lean years, Mawela returned to the South African music scene with Tlhokomela Sera, released in December 2007. Mawela's recent numbers like Mme Anga Khotsi Anga and Nnditsheni are very popular. Solomon Matase is known for his hits Ntshavheni and Vho i fara Phele.
Alpheus Ramavhea, Mundalamo, Eric Mukhese, and Adziambei Band are also famous in the Venda music fratenity. The latter band is still continuing with their successful run, releasing another album recently. Having more than 20 years in the industry Colbert Mukwevho has done much in Venda music. In the 80s his hits like Kha tambe na thanga dzawe, i do nera rothe and saga-saga were popular. In 2006 his comeback album Mulovha namusi na matshelo' with hits like ndo takala hani and zwa mutani wavho remain popular with Venda and Pedi's. He grew up in a family of music. His father Christopher Mukwevho then leader of Threlling Artist-the popular band used to feature him at young age. Others include TAKZIT, Humbulani Ramagwedzha, Jahman Chiganja, Khakhathi and Friends, Maduvha Madima, Takalani Mudau, Rapson Mbilummbi Rambuwani, TMan Gavini, Mizo Phyll, Killah Gee, Jininka, Paul Mulaudzi, Malondo Ramulongo, Burning Doctor, Just ice, Lufuno Dagada & Tshidino Ndou.
Tshidino Ndou of Vhadino Entertainment is a reggae artist making a name for himself in the entertainment industry. He dropped two banging albums, Ndi do fa na inwi(2009) - Till death do us part and Nne Ndi Nne(2010) - I am what I am. Tshidino was born and bred in Tshakhuma, a rural village in South Africa in the Limpopo Province. His song "Ni songo nyadza" meaning "do not undermine other people's religions" featuring a Venda reggae icon Humbulani Ramagwedzha of thivhulungiwi fame is gaining shocking airplays on Phalaphala FM, Soweto TV, Makhado FM and Univen radio.
Tshidino entered the music scene as a member of Vhadino House Grooves group which he established alongside his brother, Arthur Ndou in 2008. They released their debut hot album titled Ro Swika meaning we have arrived. The album contains a controversial song "Ri ya groova widely known as "Ndo Fara Mudifho". He is currently recording his new album featuring takalani Mudau of baby fusheani fame.
Tshidino is not just a musician but also a well known film producer who is more popular in the Vendawood film industry in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. He plays the character of Vho-Mulingo in Vho-Mulingo comedy. Other movies he produced include Mathaithai, Hu do dzula nnyi, Mphemphe i a netisa and Hu bvuma na fhasi.
Tshidino is currently busy with his long awaited movie called The Fakebook which is already on everybody's lips. The highly rated Vendawood filmmaker told Mo Flava in the Morning Flava show on YFM radio station of South Africa that the movie has already created a hype and is expected to cause havoc in the film industry as it deals with Facebook issues. Tshidino is the owner of Dzhatsha Films and Vhadino Entertainment companies. For more about Tshidino, visit www.dzhatshafilms.co.za.
and the solo work of their leader and founder, Dizu Plaatjies
. He and his group took traditional Xhosa music from the hills of Pondoland and the Eastern Cape and put is on stage world-wide. The success of the genre was how the exponents combined their music with their stage performances and dance.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
scene includes both popular
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
(jive) and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
forms. Pop styles are based on four major sources, Zulu
Zulu music
The Zulu are a South African ethnic group. Many Zulu musicians have become a major part of South African music. A number of Zulu-folk derived styles have also become well-known across South Africa and abroad.-Mbube and Isicathamiya:...
isicathamiya
Isicathamiya
Isicathamiya is a singing style that originated from the South African Zulus. In European understanding, a cappella is also used to describe this form of singing.-Background:...
singing and harmonic mbaqanga
Mbaqanga
Mbaqanga is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.-History:...
. South Africa is very diverse, with many native African Ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
s as well as European and Indian peoples.
Early South African music
Christian missionMission (Christian)
Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...
s provided the first organized musical training in the country, bringing to light many of the modern country's earliest musicians, including Enoch Sontonga
Enoch Sontonga
Enoch Mankayi Sontonga was the composer of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika , which has been part of the South African national anthem since 1994. It was also the official African National Congress anthem since 1925 and is still the national anthem of Tanzania and Zambia...
, who wrote the national anthem
National anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika
"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" , was originally composed as a hymn by a Methodist mission school in Johannesburg teacher, Enoch Sontonga in 1897, to the tune 'Aberystwyth' by Joseph Parry...
. By the end of the nineteenth century, South African cities like Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
were large enough to attract foreign musicians, especially American ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
players. African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
spiritual
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
s were popularized in the 1890s by Orpheus McAdoo's Jubilee Singers.lol
Marabi
, governmental restrictions surwumpufncle on blacks increased, including a nightly curfewCurfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
which kept the night life in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
relatively small for a city of its size (then the largest city south of the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
). Marabi
Marabi
Marabi is an indigenous music that evolved in South Africa over the last century.The early part of the 20th century saw the increasing urbanisation of black South Africans in mining centres such as the gold mining area around Johannesburg - the Witwatersrand...
, a style from the slums of Johannesburg, was popular.
Marabi was played on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
s with accompaniment from pebble-filled cans, often in shebeen
Shebeen
A shebeen was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence.The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Scotland, Canada, the United States, England,...
s, establishments that illegally served alcohol to blacks. By the 1930s, however, marabi had incorporated new instruments, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, concertina
Concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
s and banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
s, and new styles of marabi had sprung up. Among these were a marabi/swing fusion called African jazz and jive, a generic term for any popular marabi style of music.
South African popular music began in 1912 with the first commercial recordings, but only began booming after 1930 when Eric Gallo's Brunswick Gramophone House sent several South African musicians to London to record for Singer Records. Gallo went on to begin producing music in South Africa, beginning in 1933. His company, Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company is the largest record label in Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is owned by Avusa Limited . The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two rival South African record labels between the '40s and '80s: the original Gallo Africa and G.R.C...
, remains the largest and most successful label in South Africa, having had acclaimed artists such as Solomon Linda
Solomon Linda
Solomon Popoli Linda , also known as Solomon Ntsele , was a South African Zulu musician, singer and composer who wrote the song "Mbube" which later became the popular music success "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", and gave its name to the Mbube style of isicathamiya a cappella popularized later by...
, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
, Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens was a South African mbaqanga supergroup composed of:...
and many more pass through the recording studios.
Gospel
In the early twentieth century, Zionist Christian churches spread across South Africa. They incorporated African musical elements into their worship, thus inventing South African gospel music which remains one of the most popular forms of music in the country today.(source)A cappella
The 1930s also saw the spread of Zulu a cappella singing from the Natal area to much of South Africa. The style's popularity, finally producing a major star in 1939 with Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds, whose "Mbube" ("The Lion") was probably the first African recording to sell more than 100,000 copies. It also provided the basis for two further American pop hits, The WeaversThe Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
' "Wimoweh" (1951) and The Tokens
The Tokens
The Tokens are an American male doo-wop-style vocal group from Brooklyn, New York. They are known best for their chart-scoring 1961 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" .-Career:...
' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...
" (1961). Linda's music was in a style that came to be known as mbube
Mbube (genre)
Mbube is a form of South African vocal music, made famous by the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The word mbube means "lion" in Zulu. Traditionally performed a cappella, the members of the group are male although a few groups have a female singer...
. From the late 1940s to the 1960s, a harsh, strident form called isikhwela jo was popular, though national interest waned in the 50s until Radio Zulu began broadcasting to Natal, Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
and the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
in 1962 (see 1950s: Bantu Radio and pennywhistle for more details).
Also formed in this era, the Stellenbosch University Choir
Stellenbosch University Choir
Stellenbosch University Choir is a Choir attached to Stellenbosch University. Founded in 1936, it is the oldest choir in South Africa. The current conductor, André van der Merwe, was appointed at the beginning of 2003....
, part of the University of Stellenbosch, is the oldest running choir in the country and was formed in 1936 by William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
, also the first conductor of the Choir. The current conductor is Andre van der Merwe. They specialise in a cappella music and consist of students from the University.
Afrikaans music
Afrikaans music was primarily influenced by DutchNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
folk styles, along with French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
influences, in the early twentieth century. Zydeco
Zydeco
Zydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
-type string bands led by a concertina were popular, as were elements of American country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, especially Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
. Bushveld music based on the Zulu
Zulu music
The Zulu are a South African ethnic group. Many Zulu musicians have become a major part of South African music. A number of Zulu-folk derived styles have also become well-known across South Africa and abroad.-Mbube and Isicathamiya:...
were reinterpreted by such singers as Marais and Miranda
Josef Marais
Josef Marais was a popular singer from South Africa.In 1945 he met Rosa de Miranda and they teamed up, performing for more than 30 years as "Marais and Miranda", recording many South African traditional folk ballads and original songs such as Zulu Warrior.-Marais & Miranda:#Josef Marais and his...
. Melodramatic and sentimental songs called trane trekkers (tear jerkers) were especially common. In 1996 the South African Music scene changed from the Tranetrekkers to more lively sounds and the introduction of new names in the market with the likes of Nádine, Kurt Darren and Nicolis Louw. Afrikaans music is currently one of the most popular and best selling industries on the South African music scene.
After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Afrikaner
Afrikaner
Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...
nationalism spread and musicians like accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
ist Nico Carstens
Nico Carstens
Nicolaas Cornelius Carstens is a South African accordionist and songwriter.Born in Cape Town of Dutch parents, Carstens got his first accordion at the age of 13 and won an adult music competition six months later...
were popular.
Bantu Radio and the Music Industry
By the 1950s, the music industry had diversified greatly, and included several major labels. In 1962, the South African government launched a development programme for Bantu Radio in order to foster separate development and encourage independence for the BantustanBantustan
A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...
s. Though the government had expected Bantu Radio to play folk music, African music had developed into numerous pop genres, and the nascent recording studios used radio to push their pop stars. The new focus on radio led to a government crackdown on lyrics, censoring songs which were considered a "public hazard".
Pennywhistle jive
The first major style of South African popular music to emerge was pennywhistle jive (later known as kwelaKwela
Kwela is a happy, often pennywhistle-based, street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings and a distinctive, skiffle-like beat. It evolved from the marabi sound and brought South African music to international prominence in the 1950s....
). Black cattle-herders had long played a three-holed reed flute, adopting a six-holed flute when they moved to the cities. Willard Cele is usually credited with creating pennywhistle by placing the six-holed flute between his teeth at an angle. Cele spawned a legion of imitators and fans, especially after appearing in the 1951 film The Magic Garden
The Magic Garden
The Magic Garden is the second album by American pop group The 5th Dimension, released in 1967 .-Track listing:All songs written by Jimmy Webb, except where noted#"Prologue" – 1:24#"The Magic Garden" – 2:48...
.
Groups of flautists played on the streets of South African cities in the 1950s, many of them in white areas, where police would arrest them for creating a public disturbance. Some young whites were attracted to the music, and came to be known as ducktails,
The 1960s
In the 60s, a smooth form of mbube called cothoza mfana developed, led by the King Star Brothers, who invented isicathamiyaIsicathamiya
Isicathamiya is a singing style that originated from the South African Zulus. In European understanding, a cappella is also used to describe this form of singing.-Background:...
style by the end of the decade.
By the 1960s, the saxophone was commonplace in jive music, the performance of which continued to be restricted to townships. The genre was called sax jive and later mbaqanga
Mbaqanga
Mbaqanga is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.-History:...
. Mbaqanga literally means dumpling but implies home-made and was coined by Michael Xaba, a jazz saxophonist who did not like the new style.
The early 1960s also saw performers like bassist Joseph Makwela and guitarist Marks Mankwane add electric instruments and marabi and kwela influences to the mbaqanga style, leading to a funkier and more African sound.
Mbaqanga developed vocal harmonies during the very early 1960s when groups like The Skylarks
The Skylarks
The Skylarks were a cult alternative rock band from Liverpool, England-History:The Skylarks formed in 1996 by Paul Molloy and Vinny McPoland. In 1997 they were joined by Dave Dutton and Michael Fitzgerald on drums. In 1999 Michael Fitzgerald left and was replaced by Dave Baker. The Skylarks gained...
and the Manhattan Brothers
Manhattan Brothers
The Manhattan Brothers was a popular South African music group in the 1940s and 1950s, during the Apartheid Era. Their sound drew on American ragtime, jive, swing, doo-wop, and several other jazz strains, as well as African choral and Zulu harmonies...
began copying American vocal bands, mostly doo wop. Rather than African American four part harmonies, however, South African bands used five parts. The Dark City Sisters
Dark City Sisters
The Dark City Sisters were a South African female vocal group, who formed in 1958 and recorded several hit records in the 1960s, helping usher in a new style of South African music later brought to global prominence by the Mahotella Queens....
were the most popular vocal group in the early 1960s, known for their sweet style. Aaron Jack Lerole of Black Mambazo added groaning male vocals to the female harmonies, later being replaced by Simon 'Mahlathini' Nkabinde
Mahlathini
Simon 'Mahlathini' Nkabinde was a South African mbaqanga singer. Known as the "Lion of Soweto" Nkabinde is the acknowledged exponent of the deep-voiced, basso profundo "groaning" style that came to symbolize mbaqanga music in the 1960s...
, who has become perhaps the most influential and well-known South African "groaner" of the twentieth century. Marks Mankwane and Joseph Makwela's mbaqanga innovations evolved into the more danceable mgqashiyo sound when the two joined forces with Mahlathini and the new female group Mahotella Queens
Mahotella Queens
The Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...
, in Mankwane's backing group Makhona Tsohle Band (also featuring Makwela along with saxophonist-turned-producer West Nkosi
West Nkosi
West Nkosi was a South African music producer, saxophonist and songwriter.Nkosi was born in Nelspruit, South Africa. He was an original member of the Makgona Tsohle Band which backed Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens...
, rhythm guitarist Vivian Ngubane, and drummer Lucky Monama). The Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens/Makhona Tsohle outfit recorded as a studio unit for Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company is the largest record label in Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is owned by Avusa Limited . The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two rival South African record labels between the '40s and '80s: the original Gallo Africa and G.R.C...
, to great national success, pioneering mgqashiyo music all over the country to equal success.
1967 saw the arrival of Izintombi Zesi Manje Manje, an mgqashiyo female group that provided intense competition for Mahotella Queens. Both groups were massive competitors in the jive field, though the Queens usually came out on top.
Soul and jazz
The late 1960s saw the rise of soul musicSoul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
from the United States. Singers like Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
and Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
were especially popular, and inspired South African performers to enter the field with an organ, a bass-and-drum rhythm section and an electric guitar.
Jazz in the 1960s split into two fields. Popular dance bands like the Elite Swingsters were popular, while avant-garde jazz inspired by the work of John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
and Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
was also common. The latter field of musicians included prominent activists and thinkers, including Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
, Abdullah Ibrahim
Abdullah Ibrahim
Abdullah Ibrahim , born Adolph Johannes Brand, 9 October 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa, and formerly known as Dollar Brand, is a South African pianist and composer...
(formerly known as 'Dollar Brand'), Kippie Moeketsi
Kippie Moeketsi
Kippie ‘Morolong’ Moeketsi was a South African saxophonist and jazz musician. Born into a musical Johannesburg family, Moeketsi was the youngest of eleven brothers, and one sister who was a nurse of whom all but 4 played an instrument...
, Sathima Bea Benjamin
Sathima Bea Benjamin
Sathima Bea Benjamin , is a South African vocalist and composer born in Johannesburg, raised in Cape Town, and now based in New York City.-Early life:...
, Chris McGregor
Chris McGregor
Christopher McGregor , was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa.- Early influences :...
, Johnny Dyani
Johnny Dyani
Johnny Mbizo Dyani was a South African jazz double bassist and pianist, who played with such musicians as Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, David Murray and Leo Smith....
and Jonas Gwangwa
Jonas Gwangwa
Jonas Mosa Gwangwa has been an important figure in South African jazz for over 40 years. He first gained significance playing trombone with The Jazz Epistles...
. In 1959, American pianist John Mehegan
John Mehegan
John Mehegan was an American jazz pianist, lecturer and critic.Mehegan was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and began playing the piano at the age of five. He taught himself to play by matching his fingers to the notes played on a neighborhood player piano. His mother gave him violin lessons,...
organized a recording session using many of the most prominent South African jazz musicians, resoluting in the first two African jazz LPs. The following year saw the Cold Castle National Jazz Festival, which brought additional attention to South African jazz. Cold Castle became an annual event for a few years, and brought out more musicians, especially Dudu Pukwana
Dudu Pukwana
Mtutuzel Dudu Pukwana was a South African saxophonist, composer and pianist .-Early years in South Africa:...
, Gideon Nxumalo and Chris McGregor
Chris McGregor
Christopher McGregor , was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa.- Early influences :...
. The 1963 festival produced a LP called Jazz The African Sound, but government oppression soon ended the jazz scene. Again, many musicians emigrated to the UK or other countries.
While the African Jazz of the north of South Africa was being promoted in Johannesburg, musicians in Cape Town were awakening to their jazz heritage. The port city had a long history of musical interaction with sea faring players. The rise of the Coon Carnival and the visionary talent of Abdullah Ibrahim ('Dollar Brand') and his sax players, Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen stumbled upon Cape Jazz
Cape jazz
Cape jazz is a genre of jazz, similar to the popular music style known as marabi, though more improvisational in character, which is performed in the very southern part of Africa...
. It was an improvised version of their folk songs with musical reference to European and American jazz which would go on some 20 years later to be South Africa's most important Jazz export.
Mgqashiyo and Isicathamiya
By the 1970s, only a few long-standing mgqashiyo groups were well-known, with the only new groups finding success with an all-male line-up. Abafana Baseqhudeni and Boyoyo Boys were perhaps the biggest new stars of this period. The Mahotella Queens' members began leaving the line-up around 1971 for rival groups. Gallo, by far the biggest record company in South Africa, began to create a new Mahotella Queens line-up, recording them with Abafana Baseqhudeni. Lead groaner Mahlathini had already moved to rival label EMI (in early 1972), where he had successful records with backing team Ndlondlo Bashise and new female group the Mahlathini Girls. The new Mahotella Queens line-up over at Gallo found just as much success as the original Queens, recording on-and-off with new male groaners such as Robert Mbazo Mkhize of Abafana Baseqhudeni.Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
, headed by the sweet soprano of Joseph Shabalala
Joseph Shabalala
Joseph Shabalala , born Bhekizizwe Joseph Siphatimandla Mxoveni Mshengu Bigboy Shabalala, is the founder and musical director of the South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.-Early life and career:...
, arose in the 1960s, and became perhaps the biggest isicathamiya
Isicathamiya
Isicathamiya is a singing style that originated from the South African Zulus. In European understanding, a cappella is also used to describe this form of singing.-Background:...
stars in South Africa's history. Their first album was 1973's Amabutho
Amabutho (album)
Amabutho is the 1973 debut release by the South African isicathamiya group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, recorded for Gallo Record Company . Amabutho sold over 25,000 copies in South Africa, and was the first record by black musicians in the country to receive gold disc certification...
, which was also the first gold record by black musicians; it sold over 25,000 copies. Ladysmith Black Mambazo remained popular throughout the next few decades, especially after 1986, when Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, an American musician, included Ladysmith Black Mambazo on his extremely popular Graceland
Graceland (album)
Graceland was Paul Simon's highest charting album in the U.S. in over a decade, reaching #3 in the national Billboard charts, receiving a certification of 5× Platinum by the RIAA and eventually selling over 14 million copies, making it Simon's most commercially successful album...
album and its subsequent tour of 1987.
With progressive jazz hindered by governmental suppression, marabi-styled dance bands rose to more critical prominence in the jazz world. The music became more complex and retained popularity, while progressive jazz produced only occasional hits, like Winston Ngozi's "Yakal Nkomo" and Abdullah Ibrahim's "Mannenburg".
Punk rock
During the punk rockPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
boom of the late 1970s, UK punk-influenced South African bands like Wild Youth and Powerage gained a cult following, focused in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
whilst in and around Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
bands such as Dog Detachment and The Radio Rats and Young Dumb & Violent had a similar following on the fringes of the music scene. Cape Town also had its own scene with the Safari Suits, House Wives Choice, Lancaster Band, The News and Permanent Force (aka Private File after BOSS intervention) taking the lead, soon followed by the Rude Dementals, Fred Smith Band and Riot Squad. Many gigs took place at The Scratch Club (run by Gerry Dixon and Henry Coombes), UCT and other local venues,and some of the aforementioned bands passed through on tours.
Disco
In the middle of the 70s, American disco was imported to South Africa, and disco beats were added to soul music, which helped bring a halt to popular mbaqanga bands such as the Mahotella QueensMahotella Queens
The Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...
. In 1976, South African children rebelled en masse against apartheid and governmental authority, and a vibrant, youthful counterculture was created, with music as an integral part of its focus. Styles from before the 1970s fusion of disco and soul were not widely regarded, and were perceived as being sanctioned by the white oppressors. Few South African bands gained a lasting success during this period, however, with the exception of the Movers, who used marabi elements in their soul. The Movers were followed by the Soul Brothers, and the instrumental band The Cannibals
The Cannibals
The Cannibals may refer to:* The Cannibals , a garage punk band active since the end of the 1970s* The Cannibals , a 1970 Italian film...
, who soon began working with singer Jacob "Mpharanyana" Radebe. The coloured (not black) band Flames also gained a following, and soon contributed two members (Blondie Chaplin
Blondie Chaplin
Terence William 'Blondie' Chaplin is a musician from Durban, South Africa who first became known to international audiences through his brief stint in the early 1970s as a singer and guitarist for The Beach Boys...
and Ricky Fataar
Ricky Fataar
Ricky Fataar is a South African multi-instrumentalist of Malay descent, who has performed as both a drummer, and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in the comedic television movie, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, a spoof on the actual history of The Beatles, and for his performance as a...
) to American band The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
. Harari
Harari
Harari may refer to:* The city of Harar in Ethiopia; "Harari" is an adjectival form of the noun .** Harari people of Ethiopia** Harari language* Harari Region in Ethiopia* Harari Rishon Model, named after Haim Harari...
arose in their place, eventually moving to an almost entirely rock and roll sound. One of Harari's members, Sipho 'Hotstix' Mabuse
Sipho Mabuse
Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse was born in Johannesburg on 2 November 1951. Mabuse got his start in the African soul group the Beaters in the mid-1970s. After a successful tour of Zimbabwe they changed the group's name to Harari...
became a superstar in the 1980s.
Alternative rock and Afrikaans
The early 1980s brought popular attention on alternative rockAlternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
bands like The Usual and Scooter's Union. In and around Johannesburg the growth of the independent music scene led to not just a surge of bands ranging from big names (relatively speaking) Tribe after Tribe, The Dynamics and The Softies through to smaller hopefuls What Colours, Days Before and No Exit, but also to the growth of a vibrant DIY fanzine scene with "Palladium" and "One Page to Many" two titles of note.
South African alternative rock grew more mainstream with two leading bands, Asylum Kids from Johannesburg and Peach
Peach
The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...
from Durban having chart success and releasing critically acclaimed albums. The burgeoning music scene around Johannesburg saw a surge of small bands, inspired and informed by the UK DIY punk ethic, form and start performing at a growing number of venues from clubs the likes of Metalbeat, Bluebeat, King of Clubs, DV8 and Dirtbox to student run venues such as GR Bozzoli Hall and later the Free People Concert on the University of the Witwatersrand
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
campus.
One artist of specific note to come from this era was James Phillips
James Phillips (musician)
James Phillips was a South African rock singer, songwriter and performer.-Biography:Phillips grew up in the conservative East Rand mining town of Springs, the son of a Presbyterian minister. He finished high school at Witbank High in 1976...
who was involved with several influential and important bands including Corporal Punishment; Cherry Faced Lurchers; and his Afrikaans alter ego Bernoldus Niemand (roughly translates as Bernard Nobody). With his Bernoldus Niemand character, James managed to cross the language division and influence a whole range of Afrikaans speaking musicians to the same punk ethic that had inspired him, and an important Afrikaans alternative rock scene grew from this influence.
During this period, the only Afrikaners to achieve much mainstream fame were Anton Goosen, a rock singer-songwriter, and Bles Bridges
Bles Bridges
Bles Bridges , born Lawrence John Gabriel Bridges, was a much loved South African singer. He became known as Bles Bridges, as his Irish granddad called him Bles , due to his very thin hair from an early age....
, an imitator of American lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
singer Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
.
International attention
The original Mahotella QueensMahotella Queens
The Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...
line-up reunited with Mahlathini and the Makgona Tsohle Band in 1983, due to unexpected demand from mgqashiyo and mbaqanga fans. Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
took their first step into the international arena via Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
on his Graceland
Graceland (album)
Graceland was Paul Simon's highest charting album in the U.S. in over a decade, reaching #3 in the national Billboard charts, receiving a certification of 5× Platinum by the RIAA and eventually selling over 14 million copies, making it Simon's most commercially successful album...
album in 1986, where a series of reissue albums by US label Shanachie sold very well. Mambazo became world travellers, touring the world and collaborating with various Western musicians to massive success. The Graceland album not only propelled Mambazo into the spotlight, but paved the way for other South African acts (including Mahlathini and the Queens, Amaswazi Emvelo, Moses Mchunu, Ray Phiri and Stimela, and others) to become known worldwide as well.
Johnny Clegg
Johnny Clegg (musician)
Jonathan "Johnny" Clegg is a musician from South Africa, who has recorded and performed with his bands Juluka and Savuka. Sometimes called Le Zoulou Blanc , he is an important figure in South African popular music history, with songs that mix Zulu with English lyrics, and African with various...
got his start in the 1970s playing Zulu-traditional music with Sipho Mchunu
Sipho Mchunu
Sipho Mchunu is a Zulu musician best known for his partnership with 'white Zulu' Johnny Clegg in the band Juluka from the 1970s to the 1990s. Mchunu's Zulu compositions, vocals and guitar work brought traditional Zulu styles such as maskanda and mbaqanga to a wider crossover audience both in South...
, and became prominent as the only major white musician playing traditional black music, achieving success in France as "Le Zoulou Blanc" (The White Zulu). The 1980s also saw a resurgence in rock and roll bands like The Helicopters
The Helicopters
The Helicopters were a South African pop rock band active in the 1980s. They formed in 1981 in Vereeniging and were stylistically similar to the New Wave bands Duran Duran and A Flock of Seagulls. Benjy Mudie signed the group to Warner Bros. Records in 1984, where they released one album and...
, Petit Cheval
Petit Cheval
Petit Cheval was a New Romantic rock group from South Africa. Their name is French for "little horse". The group was founded in Pretoria in 1982 by singer/songwriter Jon Selby and soon after recorded a demo, which landed them a deal with Warner Bros. Records in 1984...
, Sterling
Sterling (band)
Sterling was a popular rock band formed in Manchester, England.The band was founded in 2001 at Manchester University, England by Robin Goodchild, Richard Ash, Gavin Stead and Edward Shiers....
and Tellinger
Tellinger
Michael Tellinger is an author and songwriter who entered the South African music scene during the Apartheid years. His song "We come from Johannesburg" in 1986 was a nine-minute anti-apartheid epic. It was also the first Rap album to be released by a South African artist. The song was instantly...
.
Reggae
The most lasting change, however, may have been the importation of reggaeReggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
from Jamaica. Following international superstar Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
's concert celebrating Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, reggae took hold across Africa. Lucky Dube
Lucky Dube
Lucky Philip Dube was a South African reggae musician. He recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans in a 25-year period and was South Africa's biggest selling reggae artist...
was the first major South African artists; his style was modelled most closely on that of Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh , was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers , and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, an illegitimate child to a mother too young...
. Into the 1990s, Lucky Dube was one of the best-selling artists in South African history, especially his 1990 album Slave. The 90s also saw Jamaican music move towards ragga
Ragga
-Origins:Ragga originated in Jamaica during the 1980s, at the same time that electronic dance music's popularity was increasing globally. One of the reasons for ragga's swift propagation is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae performed on traditional musical...
, an electronic style that was more influential on kwaito
Kwaito
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples,...
(South African hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
) than reggae.
A group from the Free State called Oyaba also emerged during this period. Their best known hit songs are Tomorrow Nation, Paradise
Paradise
Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...
and Love Crazy
Love Crazy
Love Crazy is a 1941 screwball comedy film pairing William Powell and Myrna Loy as a couple whose marriage is on the verge of being broken up by the husband's old girlfriend and the wife's disapproving mother.-Plot:...
. Reggae became quite popular and there was also a singer from KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
, Sipho Johnson known as Jumbo
Jumbo
Jumbo was a large African Bush Elephant, born 1861 in the French Sudan – present-day Mali – imported to a Paris zoo, transferred to the London Zoo in 1865, and sold in 1882 to P. T...
who gave the likes of Lucky Dube
Lucky Dube
Lucky Philip Dube was a South African reggae musician. He recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans in a 25-year period and was South Africa's biggest selling reggae artist...
quite a scare.
Bubblegum
BubblegumBubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
was a form of pure South African pop music that arose in the middle of the 1980s, distinctively based on vocals with overlapping call-and-response vocals. Electronic keyboards and synthesizers were commonplace. Dan Tshanda of the band Splash
Splash (band)
Splash are a UK-based show band. They are one of the UK's premier corporate and wedding entertainment bands with over 12 years experience in the entertainment industry.-Current Line Up:* Marc Andrew - Vocals* Iain MacKinnon - Guitar/Vocals...
was the first major bubblegum star, followed by Chicco Twala. Twala introduced some politically oriented lyrics, such as "We Miss You Manelo" (a coded tribute to Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
) and "Papa Stop the War", a collaboration with Mzwakhe Mbuli
Mzwakhe Mbuli
Mzwakhe Mbuli, a devout former Deacon at Apostolic Faith Mission Church in Naledi Soweto South Africa, known as "The People's Poet, Tall man, Mbulism", is a popular poet and mbaqanga singer in South Africa...
.
The late 1980s saw the rise of Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka is a South African singer.Dubbed the "Princess of Africa", Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of South African popular music for 20 years...
, beginning with her 1984 hit "I'm In Love With a DJ", which was the first major hit for bubblegum. Her popularity rose into the 1990s, especially across the rest of Africa and into Europe. Chaka Chaka's first major rival was Brenda Fassie
Brenda Fassie
Brenda Fassie , was a South African pop singer. She was known for her "outrageousness" and widely considered a voice for disenfranchised blacks during apartheid. She was affectionately known as the Queen of African Pop and her nickname amongst fans was Mabrr.-Biography:Brenda was born in Langa,...
, whose popularity began with 1993's Amagents; since becoming embroiled in numerous scandals as well as drug problems before her death in 2004. Jabu Khanyile
Jabu Khanyile
Jabu Khanyile was a South African musician and lead vocalist from the band Bayete.-Biography:...
's Bayete and teen heart-throb Ringo have also become very popular.
The Voëlvry movement
AfrikaansAfrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
-language music saw a resurgence in the 1980s as the Voëlvry ("free as a bird" or "outlawed") movement reflected a new Afrikaans artistic counter-culture largely hostile to the values of the National Party
National Party (South Africa)
The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...
and conservative Afrikanerdom. Spearheaded by the singer-songwriter Johannes Kerkorrel
Johannes Kerkorrel
Johannes Kerkorrel was an Afrikaner singer-songwriter, journalist and playwright from South Africa....
and his Gereformeerde Blues Band, the movement (which was named after Kerkorrel's 1989 regional tour) also included musicians Bernoldus Niemand (aka James Phillips) and Koos Kombuis
Koos Kombuis
Koos Kombuis is a South African musician, singer, songwriter and writer who became famous as part of a group of anti-establishment maverick Afrikaans musicians, who, under the collective name of Voëlvry , toured campuses...
. Voëlvry tapped into a growing dissatisfaction with the Apartheid system amongst white Afrikaans speakers, and thus Voëlvry represents the musical branch of opposition that was paralleled by literature and the arts. For an overview of the context of Voëlvry, see Elbie Adendorff's article on www.litnet.co.za, "Die Voëlvry-beweging se groter konteks" (The Voëlvry movement's larger context).
New rhythms
In 1994, South African media was liberalized and new musical styles arose. Prophets of Da CityProphets of Da City
Prophets of Da City is a hip hop crew from Cape Town, South Africa. They are composed of about eight members, though the exact membership fluctuates frequently; these include Ishmael Morabe , Mark Heuvel , Shaheen Ariefdien, Ramone and DJ Ready D. Their style uses elements of hip hop music,...
became known as a premier hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
crew, though a South Africanized style of hip hop known as kwaito
Kwaito
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples,...
soon replaced actual hip hop groups. In kwaito, synthesizers and other electronic instruments are common, and slow jams adopted from Chicago house
Chicago house
Chicago house is a style of house music, a genre of electronic dance music which emerged in Chicago in the mid-1980s. Stylistically, Chicago house has no widely accepted definition, but generally includes the first house music productions by Chicago-based artists throughout the 1980s, and any later...
musicians like The Fingers, Tony Humphries
Tony Humphries
Tony Humphries is a former Administrator of the British Indian Ocean Territory , a British overseas territory in the Indian Ocean. Humphries was Administrator from February 2005 to December 2007.-References:...
and Robert Owen
Robert Owen
Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...
are also standard. Stars of kwaito include Trompies
Trompies
The Trompies are a key musical group of South Africa that specializes in a type of pop music known as kwaito. The members of the group grew up together in a Soweto township and agreed to form a band after they had all completeled musical studies in college....
, Bongo Maffin
Bongo Maffin
Bongo Maffin is a South African kwaito music group. The group became famous for its hit albums such as Thath'isigubhu. Its lead singer, Thandiswa Mazwai, has since gone solo, releasing two albums, Zabalaza and Ibokwe....
and Boom Shaka
Boom Shaka
Boom Shaka was a pioneering kwaito music group from South Africa, consisting of Junior Sokhela, Lebo Mathosa, Theo Nhlengethwa and Thembi Seete. Their first album was produced in 1994. Boom Shaka's first single "It's About Time" was released in 1993. This track can be found on Stern's Music website...
. The band Tree63
Tree63
Tree63 was a Contemporary Christian Music band from Durban, South Africa.-History:The band was formed in 1996 and originally, it was unnamed. In 1997, the band had to come up with a name before performing at North Beach, Durban, and came up with "Tree". They added the 63 part of their name in 2000...
also emerged, first known for their hit single, "A Million Lights" and then further popularized by their version of Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name".
Gospel
The biggest star of 1990s gospel was Rebecca MalopeRebecca Malope
Rebecca Malope is a South African gospel singer. She hosts the TV show "It's Gospel Time."Rebecca’s story starts in 1986. Driven by a burning desire to become South Africa’s most celebrated and admired songstress, Rebecca , then 21 years old, and her sister Cynthia, left their home township of...
, whose 1995 album Shwele Baba was extremely popular. Malope continues to record, in addition to performers such as Lusanda Spiritual Group, Barorisi Ba Morena, Amadodana Ase Wesile, Vuyo Mokoena and International Pentacoastal Church Choir, Lundi, Joyous Celebration, and the upcoming Scent From Above who have performed in Botswana occasionally.In 2000's Deborah Fraser has emerged as the best selling Gospel artist.Her albums have been audited to be in Top 5 selling in the country.In her album Isililo,Debrah Fraser sang in all South African languages like Venda,Shangaan,Sotho,Zulu and Xhosa.The industry has also been joined by the likes of Hlengiwe Mhlaba(whose Aphendule is popular) and Solly Moholo.
Afrikaans music
The period after 1994 saw a dramatic growth in the popularity of Afrikaans music. Numerous new young Afrikaans singers (soloists and groups) released CDs and DVDs and attracted large audiences at "kunstefeeste" (art festivals) such as the "Klein Karoo Nasionale KunstefeesKlein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees
The Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees is an Afrikaans language arts festival that takes place yearly in the South African town of Oudtshoorn. The festival includes both the visual and the performing arts and is officially recognized by the South African government as a national arts festival...
- KKNK" in Oudtshoorn, "Aardklop
Aardklop
Aardklop is an annual South African arts festival held since 1998 in the town of Potchefstroom in the North-West province of South Africa. This cultural festival incorporates predominantly Afrikaans theatre, dance, music, cabaret and visual arts, and is held in a variety of venues in and around the...
" in Potchefstroom and "Innibos" in Nelspruit.
Apart from dozens of new songs being introduced into the Afrikaans music market, it became popular for modern young artists to sing old Afrikaans songs on a stage or in a pub, with crowds of young admirers singing along. The reason for the dramatic increase in the popularity of Afrikaans music can only be speculated about. One theory is that the end of Apartheid in 1994 also meant the end of the privileged position that the Afrikaans culture had in South Africa. After losing the privileged protection and promotion of the language and the culture by the State, the Afrikaans-speaking community seems to have spontaneously started embracing and developing their language and culture. This was due to pop artists like Steve Hofmeyr, Nádine
Nádine
Nádine is a South African Afrikaans singer, best known for the hit song Kaapse Draai. She has also recorded a number of songs in English.-Life and career:...
, Kurt Darren, and Nicolis Louw bringing a new fresh sound in Afrikaans Music. Many of the songs sung and/or written by these artist are similar in sound to Euro dance music. Critics would claim that all an Afrikaans pop artist needs for a song to be popular is a catchy tune and an easy beat. This is due to the massive popularity of a form of couples dancing called "langarm" or "sokkie". The dance halls where this takes place could be considered as night clubs but they play almost exclusively Afrikaans pop music. The Afrikaans pop music market therefore generates tremendous demand for new material.
Alternative
The 1990s could be seen as the genesis of a vibrant alternative music scene in South Africa. The Voëlvry movement was a major influence in establishing the scene, but subject material markedly shifted from protestProtest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
to more the abstract and personal. Major festivals like Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi is the name of a music festival held in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, near the mining town of Northam. The festival started off focusing mostly on rock music, but gradually added more genres and now plays host to a complete mixed bag of genres...
and Woodstock were started and grew steadily, firmly cementing the niche under predominantly white university students exploring a newfound intellectual independence after the fall of apartheid. The first band to reach any major recognition was Springbok nude girls
Springbok Nude Girls
The Springbok Nude Girls is a rock band from Cape Town, South Africa.An alternative rock band, the Nude Girls introduced punk, ska, acid jazz and metal into their songs, introducing a new world of music to the youth of South Africa in the early 1990s.They played their first big gig in September...
established in 1994 whose most recognisable song is the ballad 'Blue Eyes'. Other notable acts established in this decade were Fetish, Wonderboom
Wonderboom (band)
Wonderboom is a 4 piece South African rock band from Johannesburg.They formed in 1996 when Martin, Wade and Cito, originally in an underground band called "The Eight Legged Groove Machine", were approached by Danny, the drummer for the popular rock band, "The Electric Petals" and their manager,...
(est. 1996), Boo!
Boo! (band)
Boo! are a South African band. They described their music as "Monki Punk". Boo! consisted of three members; the cross-dressing "Miss" Chris Chameleon on bass guitar and lead vocals, Princess Leonie on drums and Ampie Omo, filled in the rest of the sounds on trumpet, trombone, keyboard and...
(est. 1997), Henry Ate
Henry Ate
Henry Ate is a South African band that came to fame in the mid-1990s. Headed up at the time by lead singer Karma-Ann Swanepoel, who relocated to South Florida in 2003....
, Just Jinger
Just Jinger
Just Jinjer is a contemporary rock group originally from South Africa and now based in California. Just Jinjer is the number one selling rock band in South African history, with over 240,000 units sold...
(est. 1996) and Battery 9
Battery 9
Battery 9 , an industrial music project from Johannesburg, South Africa, is the brainchild of Paul Riekert, who writes, plays and records the music in a mixture of English and Afrikaans...
.
Goth
South Africa's first gothic rockGothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
band was The Awakening
The Awakening (band)
The Awakening is an alternative rock band from Johannesburg, South Africa, formed in 1995 by vocalist, guitarist and producer Ashton Nyte. The band is credited in the press as "South Africa's most successful Gothic Rock act and one of the top bands in the far broader Alternative scene." The band...
, formed in 1995 by vocalist, guitarist and producer Ashton Nyte
Ashton Nyte
Ashton Nyte is a South African born singer, songwriter, producer, composer and front man of the South African alternative rock band The Awakening. Nyte has released five solo albums both as Ashton Nyte and Ashton Nyte and the Accused in addition to his numerous releases as The Awakening...
. The band is credited in major national press as "South Africa's most successful Gothic Rock act and one of the top bands in the far broader Alternative scene" and headlined major national festivals throughout South Africa, including the country's largest music festival Woodstock, in addition to Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi is the name of a music festival held in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, near the mining town of Northam. The festival started off focusing mostly on rock music, but gradually added more genres and now plays host to a complete mixed bag of genres...
and RAMfest. With more than a dozen top ten national singles between 1998 and 2007, The Awakening
The Awakening (band)
The Awakening is an alternative rock band from Johannesburg, South Africa, formed in 1995 by vocalist, guitarist and producer Ashton Nyte. The band is credited in the press as "South Africa's most successful Gothic Rock act and one of the top bands in the far broader Alternative scene." The band...
were the first goth-styled act to have major success in South Africa.
The band Silex formed in 1998 but broke up shortly after releasing their debut album 'Legendary Beauty' under Ashton Nite's record label Intervention Arts. Other notable goth artist are Mr Barleycorn and the Eternal Chapter, which had a hit with the cover "Here comes the man" originally by Boom Boom Room
Boom Boom Room
Boom Boom Room was a British male vocal/instrumental pop group, comprising Andy Nakanza , Skid , Inz , and Lushi . Lushi was also in a band called One The Juggler...
.
Metal
Through the late 80s and into the early 90s, South Africa grew a well supported metal scene, marked by the release of Johannesburg based Odysseys' self titled album in 1991. There was a burgeoning crossover punk/metal scene in the major centers, particularly spurred on by Cape Towns' Voice Of Destruction and Johannesburg based Urban Assault in the very late 80s. Johannesburg developed an extreme metal scene in1992 with rising grindcore/death metal act Retribution Denied, Boksburg based macabre/death metal act Debauchery followed by Pretoria doom metal band Funeral, Christian metal act Abhorrence closely followed by Insurrection, Metalmorphosis, Sacrifist and Agro the latter two acts of whom still perform today. Whilst many of the acts failed to find commercial success in terms of CD sales, there was a devout following nationally and local metal bands soon opened the national touring circuit to a higher extent than most other genres. It also attracted international artists to tour the country almost immediately after the demise of apartheid, with some of the most respected international artists having seen fit to visit the country since.Techno
The first South African live technoTechno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
bands were the Kraftreaktor and The Kiwi Experience. Jay Sonton and Ruediger Keller from Kraftreaktor and the Kiwi Experience performed at several raves, playing mainly electronic body music. Their music was mainly influenced by European artists, but included a unique South African touch. They mainly integrated African samples to localize their sound.
Blues Rock
The blues rock scene has dramatically emerged In South Africa. There are numerous band's including a band from Cape Town called Rosemary Town's End. They have really grown the scene in in Cape Town.Kwaito
Kwaito is based on house musicHouse music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
beats, but typically at a slower tempo and containing melodic and percussive African samples which are looped, deep basslines and often vocals, generally male, shouted or chanted rather than sung or rapped. Many consider it South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
's unique implementation of hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
.
Afrikaans
In a resurgence that has been linked by some to freedom from Apartheid guilt, Afrikaans music saw a surge in new artists, album releases and sales after 2000. In 2004 an Afrikaans album (by balladeer Steve HofmeyrSteve Hofmeyr
-Career:Hofmeyr matriculated in 1982 at Grey College. After two years compulsory army and border duty, he went to Pretoria Technikon Drama School.-Recording star and performer:...
) was named best-selling album of the year. The massive purchasing power of the Afrikaner minority is partly to thank for this.
In 2007 an Afrikaans song about Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
general Koos de la Rey
Koos de la Rey
General Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey , known as Koos de la Rey, was a Boer general during the Second Boer War and is widely regarded as being one of the strongest military leaders during that conflict....
by Bok van Blerk became a hit amid fierce debate on whether it represented a call to arms for the reinstatement of Afrikaner rule or just expressed cultural nostalgia.
While the boom in the Afrikaans pop industry has continued from the previous decade as the popularity of the arts festivals and dance halls have stayed strong, other Afrikaans music genres experienced a revival of sorts in the new millennium. Rock and alternative Afrikaans music had stagnated somewhat after the heady days of the "Voëlvry" tour and the alternative movement. Signs of a revival could be found in the arrival of Karen Zoid
Karen Zoid
Karen Zoid is a female South African rock artist with vocal and guitar and acting talent. She is also a songwriter whose lyrics have been included in Afrikaans poetry courses at Stellenbosch University and the University of Pretoria.On 3 May 2008 she won the South African Music Awards SAMA for...
on the music scene with her attention grabbing alternative sound. Shortly after a band of young punk rockers arrived on the scene called "Fokofpolisiekar
Fokofpolisiekar
Fokofpolisiekar is an Afrikaans punk rock band from Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. Due to the obscenity in the name, they are also commonly known simply as Polisiekar or FPK.-Band history:...
". They were a revelation in that nobody had done punk rock in Afrikaans before. Their controversial name (translated as Fuckoffpolicecar), statements and behaviour certainly helped draw attention. This band certainly wasn't the only one to start the revival of Afrikaans Rock but they certainly seemed to be the symbol of it. Lead singer Francois Van Coke and songwriter Hunter Kennedy have gone on to explore other genres of music also not previously popular in Afrikaans and have found success. Shortly after the arrival of this and other rock acts, the first Afrikaans television music channel was opened which focused mainly on rock music. The Afrikaans (and English) rock and alternative music scene has been booming ever since. Bands like Battery9, Terminatrix, NuL, K.O.B.U.S. and Thys Nywerheid
Thys Nywerheid
Thys Nywerheid is an alternative rock music project from Pretoria, South Africa. The band’s name is a wordplay on the Afrikaans name for ‘’Home Industry’’. The music is a mixture of both Afrikaans and English but it leans predominantly towards the former...
continue to reinvent alternative Afrikaans music, while Jack Parow
Jack Parow
Zander Tyler, better known by his stage name Jack Parow is a South African Afrikaans rapper from Bellville in the Western Cape. He is well known for his contribution to the song Die Vraagstuk with Die Heuwels Fantasties. He also performed with Die Heuwels Fantasties at Oppikoppi 2009...
has continued the Cape's development of Afrikaans rap from pioneers Brasse vannie Kaap
Brasse Vannie Kaap
"Brasse Vannie Kaap" a.k.a was a hip hop group that hailed from the Cape Flats in Cape Town, South Africa. They rapped in predominantly Cape Flats Afrikaans slang....
, finding success as far afield as Holland with his 2009 single "Cooler as Ekke".
2009 Breakthrough Experimentalism
From 2009 into 2010, two unique and eclectic but thoroughly South African groups can be singled out for the enthusiastic reception they found in the international music media, who in both cases were completely confounded as to how to categorise them.BLK JKS
BLK JKS
BLK JKS are a South African rock band from Johannesburg, formed in 2000. Their EP Mystery has been remastered for a 10 March release in the United States on the Secretly Canadian record label.-Albums:*2009: After Robots -Press:...
' experimental Afro-rock introduced an entirely new genre into the world's rock scene, taking inspiration from The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
to blend their Zulu heritage and township origins with modern sounds and equipment and an approach to music-making that seems entirely devoid of boundaries, while maintaining the sweet melodies and rhythmic qualities of South Africa's traditional music. They received an important boost after performing in Opening Ceremony of 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
.
Die Antwoord
Die Antwoord
Die Antwoord is a hip hop group from Cape Town, South Africa, consisting of three members: Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek.-Background:...
's irreverent approach to hiphop also broke boundaries with its filthy-mouthed blend of English, Afrikaans and local slang, and sparse House-influenced production, reflecting the new 'Zef' counter-culture in its cheap-and-dirty values. The band achieved a worldwide frenzy of attention with their self-published debut thanks to two bizarre and humorous YouTube music videos released in 2010 that rapidly reached viral proportions. The intrigued international public was divided between disgust, disbelief, and enthrallment - this was enough to secure an album deal with Cherrytree Records
Cherrytree Records
Cherrytree Records is an American record label and is an imprint of Interscope Records.-History:Cherrytree Records was founded in 2005 by Martin Kierszenbaum, being German for cherry tree...
, an imprint of Interscope.
The emergence of these groups has immense importance for South African music culture. Although in many ways polar opposites, they are both bringing South African culture to the forefront of musical development, and receiving global recognition, as with other recent events such as the Soccer World Cup and the 2009 release of District 9
District 9
District 9 is a 2009 South African science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James...
. Although single-race, experimental, and globally minded, they are both are enthusiastically and unashamedly open to the other South African cultures. These are important factors for a country that still feels very much internally divided and cut off from the rest of the world.
Drum and bass
The South African drum and bassDrum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
scene began in the mid nineties. In 2000, events such as Homegrown
Homegrown (drum and bass event)
Homegrown is a monthly drum and bass event held at Mercury Live, Cape Town. It has featured several international and local acts, including Dieselboy, Pendulum, Counterstrike, Donny, Raiden, Eye-D, Matt Impact, Robyn Chaos, Temper D, Nymfo, SFR and Hyphen....
became a prominent fixture in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
and a launching platform for international and local artists such as Counterstrike
Counterstrike (drum and bass group)
Counterstrike, is a drum and bass producer duo from Cape Town consisting of Justin Scholtemeyer and Eaton Crous. They are considered to be one of the pioneers of the South African drum 'n bass scene...
, SFR
DJ SFR
DJ SFR is a South African drum & bass, dubstep producer and DJ from Cape Town. SFR's sound is known for its jump up and dub influences.-Biography:...
, Niskerone, Tasha Baxter, Anti Alias and Rudeone. Other regular events include It Came From The Jungle in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
and Science Friksun in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
.
A weekly Sublime drum and bass radio show is hosted by Hyphen on Bush Radio
Bush Radio (South Africa)
Bush Radio is a popular and pioneering community radio station in South Africa. It broadcasts from Cape Town on 89.5 MHz FM, with a music and talk format aimed at the 18 to 39 age group.-Early life:...
.
Psychedelic trance
South African psytrance is a form of darker psychedelic trancePsychedelic trance
Psychedelic trance, psytrance or just psy is a form of electronic music characterized by hypnotic arrangements of synthetic rhythms and complex layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. It appeared in the mainstream in 1995 as with reporting of the trend of Goa trance. The genre offers variety...
music that started and is produced mostly in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Unlike the Russian dark psytrance
Dark psytrance
Dark psytrance is a darker, faster and more distorted form of psychedelic trance music, with tempo ranges usually from 145 to 180 BPM, but reaches +220 BPM...
, South African psytrance is more rhythmic, melodic and danceable, yet keeps the 'nasty-like' attitude.
South African music today
The South African music scene has continued to flourish in the 2000s. The decade has seen the rise of Xhosa singer Simphiwe DanaSimphiwe Dana
Simphiwe Dana is a Xhosa pop singer in South Africa. With her unique combination of jazz, pop, and traditional music, she has been hailed as the "new Miriam Makeba"....
, whose success has seen her hailed as the "new Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
", with her unique combination of jazz, pop, and traditional music. Another similar young singer is Thandiswa Mazwai
Thandiswa Mazwai
Thandiswa Mazwai is a multi-award winning South African musician, and is also the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bongo Maffin.-Early life:...
, originally a kwaito singer with Bongo Maffin
Bongo Maffin
Bongo Maffin is a South African kwaito music group. The group became famous for its hit albums such as Thath'isigubhu. Its lead singer, Thandiswa Mazwai, has since gone solo, releasing two albums, Zabalaza and Ibokwe....
. Thandiswa combined local hip-hop rhythms with traditional Xhosa sounds, creating a rich textured style. 2006 saw the rise of Shwi Nomtekhala, a duo combining mbaqanga
Mbaqanga
Mbaqanga is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.-History:...
rhythms and maskandi sounds. The duo have become one of the most influential new acts on the music scene today, outselling even kwaito artists. Their debut album Wangisiza Baba was a major hit in the country. Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
based female artist Verity
Verity Price
Verity is a singer, songwriter, actress and motivational speaker from Cape Town, South Africa.-Biography:Verity was born in Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa. She won the Catch a Rising Star talent search in Florida in 2002 and was awarded a US working visa as an artist of outstanding ability in...
has been recognized internationally for innovation in the music industry for selling 2000 copies of her album Journey
Journey (Verity album)
Journey is the debut album released by Verity and her band Verity and the Shades.- History :Journey was the first South African album to be sold before it was even produced. Verity's website featured a method for "future owners" to preorder CDs to fund the production of the album. Over 2000 people...
before it was actually recorded. Another up and coming group "2 and a Half Secondz" is on the rising from Delft in Cape Town in 2009.
Nianell
Nianell
Nianell, or formally Sonia Nel, was born in Omaruru, Namibia, is a South African singer, pianist, guitarist and composer. After growing up in Windhoek, Nianell graduated with a 3 year diploma in light music from Pretoria Technikon in South Africa and has also studied classical music at Trinity...
, the South African Superstar, is also another internationally recognized artist in modern South African music, combing Folk, Classical, Pop, Country, and Celtic music that make her own unique sound. She has released 7 albums with songs that switches back and forth in Afrikaans and English. Her first platinum hit that sold over 2 million copies was "Who Painted The Moon" that was also covered by international superstar [Hayley Westenra]. In early 2011, she made her initial debut in the U.S. with her U.S. compilation album "Who Painted The Moon".
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
remain one of the world's most popular choral groups and still retain popularity in South Africa, with their latest offering being the highly praised Ilembe
Ilembe
Ilembe is a 2007 album by the South African isicathamiya group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It was released on February 26, 2007 and did not feature collaborations, and was simply "Ladysmith Black Mambazo at its best", as the Gallo press release for the anticipated release put it.-Album's theme:Songs...
(2007/2008). The legendary group boasts three grammy wins. The Mahotella Queens
Mahotella Queens
The Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...
also remain high-selling, and - with the death of long-time groaner Mahlathini in 1999 - have recorded several new albums, including their 2007 release Siyadumisa (Songs of Praise)
Siyadumisa (Songs of Praise)
Siyadumisa is a 2007 album by the South African mbaqanga group the Mahotella Queens. The album is the first gospel-orientated album by the Queens, and features the voice of lead singer Hilda Tloubatla's son, Alfred "Ali" Temo...
. 2008 has also seen the return of a former singer with the Mahotella Queens, Irene Mawela. Mawela appeared on thousands of mbaqanga and mgqashiyo recording sessions well throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, recording mainly for Gallo Record Company, often as part of the line-ups of the Mahotella Queens, the Mgababa Queens, Izintombi Zomgqashiyo, and also under her own name (though sometimes as Irene & The Sweet Melodians, or Irene & The Zebra Queens). In 1983 she left the company to record as a solo artist, with a successful Venda-traditional release Khanani Yanga. Mawela left the music business in the late 1980s, but returned in November 2007 with a brand-new album called Tlhokomela Sera, which combines modern contemporary sounds with pure gospel music, making what Mawela calls "gospel jive".
The music scene in South Africa is focused around 4 major areas, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
and Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
. One of the characteristics of the scene is the strong sense of community which sees artist, promoters and venues all actively involved in developing the local talent. Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
's music focus is centred predominantly around the metal and Afrikaans genres. Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
and Durban are far more wide ranging in the genres of music covered by bands and artists. Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
is a hot bed for the underground music scene, generally held to be more experimental than the music produced in the other centres.
The introduction of the South African Music Awards
South African Music Awards
The South African Music Awards are an annual award ceremony, run by the Recording Industry of South Africa , where accolades are presented to members of South Africa's music industry. Winners receive a statuette is called a SAMA. The event was established in 1995...
(SAMA), intended to recognise accomplishment in the South African recording industry has raised the awareness of local artists and bands. The awards are given in various categories, including album of the year, best newcomer, best artists (male and female) and the best duo or group. South African Music Award winners include Karen Zoid
Karen Zoid
Karen Zoid is a female South African rock artist with vocal and guitar and acting talent. She is also a songwriter whose lyrics have been included in Afrikaans poetry courses at Stellenbosch University and the University of Pretoria.On 3 May 2008 she won the South African Music Awards SAMA for...
, Freshlyground
Freshlyground
Freshlyground is a South African Afro-fusion band that formed in Cape Town in 2002. The band members variously hail from South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe...
, Tasha Baxter and Seether
Seether
Seether is a post-grunge/alternative metal band from Pretoria, South Africa, formed in 1999. The band is currently signed to Wind-up Records...
.
South Africa has several annual music festivals including MotherFudd, Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi is the name of a music festival held in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, near the mining town of Northam. The festival started off focusing mostly on rock music, but gradually added more genres and now plays host to a complete mixed bag of genres...
, Rocking the Daisies and Splashy Fen
Splashy Fen
Established in 1990, Splashy Fen is South Africa’s longest-running music festival, which every Easter attracts thousands of people to a farm near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal for a unique outdoor music experience....
. The music festivals cater to different genres and styles of music. Motherfudd is an exclusively metal festival held early in the year. The 2008 Motherfudd festival had a line-up of 30 bands with 2 stages and took place near Hartebeespoort. The Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi is the name of a music festival held in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, near the mining town of Northam. The festival started off focusing mostly on rock music, but gradually added more genres and now plays host to a complete mixed bag of genres...
festival started in 1994 and is held in the Limpopo
Limpopo
Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. The capital is Polokwane, formerly named Pietersburg. The province was formed from the northern region of Transvaal Province in 1994, and initially named Northern Transvaal...
Province of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, near the mining town of Northam. Originally a rock festival, Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi is the name of a music festival held in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, near the mining town of Northam. The festival started off focusing mostly on rock music, but gradually added more genres and now plays host to a complete mixed bag of genres...
has expanded to include other genres. Splashy Fen
Splashy Fen
Established in 1990, Splashy Fen is South Africa’s longest-running music festival, which every Easter attracts thousands of people to a farm near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal for a unique outdoor music experience....
is an annual Easter festival held on a farm near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
, with a focus on rock and reggae music. Rocking the Daisies is an annual music festival which is held outside Cape Town in Darling on the Cloof wine estate. It was established in 2005 with a focus upon rock music & is a 'green' festival for which it has garnered awards.
South Africa has a growing field of music journalism. Print based publications focussed on South African music are SAM (South African Music & Entertainment tabloid), and South African Music News. Internet based journalism can be found on SAMusic.co.za, Speakerbox, Strum, The Rock Finder, More Than Music, Amplify and Sixlove.
Neo-traditional styles
Traditionally styled music is generally appellated as "Sotho-traditional" or "Zulu-traditional", and has been an important part of the South African music business since the 1930s. Vocal and concertina records were released with a call-and-response style and a concertina used as a counterpoint to the lead vocal. Following World War 1, cheap imported concertinas arrived in South Africa, especially the Italian brand bastari.Sotho-traditional
The Sotho musician Tshwatlano Makala was the first traditional musician to achieve widespread commercial success. He helped to set the stage for the subsequent rise of Letsema Mat'sela's band, Basotho Dihoba, which used styles from his native LesothoLesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
to develop a genre called mohobelo.
By the 1970s, the concertina of Sotho-traditional music was replaced with an accordion and an electric backing band. This wave of neo-traditional performers was led by Tau Ea Mat'sekha.
Zulu-traditional
The Zulu people adopted the guitar following its introduction by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, and was locally and cheaply made by the 1930s. John Bhengu was the first major Zulu guitarist, earning a reputation in 1950s Durban for his unique ukupika style of picking (as opposed to traditional strumming). Bhengu's song format, which includes an instrumental introduction (izihlabo), a melody and spoken praise (ukubonga) for a clan or family, was widely used for a long time in Zulu-traditional music. Bhengu, however, switched to the electric guitar in the late 1960s and began recording as "Phuzushukela". His popularity exploded, and Zulu-traditional music entered a boom.Since the 1970s, the concertina has returned to Zulu-traditional music, while diverse influences from pop music and drum and bass were added. Vusi Ximba's Siyakudamisa (1992) was perhaps the most memorable Zulu-traditional album of the later twentieth century, and drew controversy for racy, comedic lyrics.
Tsonga-traditional
Tsonga traditional music was first recorded in the 1950s by Francisco Baloyi for Gallo, and showed a largely African style influenced by Latin rhythms. Mozambiquan musicians Fani Pfumo and Alexander Jafete became prominent studio performers in the 1950s and into the next decade, making a style called Portuguese Shangaan. In 1975, however, Mozambique became independent and a Shangaan radio station was opened by Radio Bantu, leading to the abandonment of Portuguese elements from this style.More modern Tsonga bands, such as General MD Shirinda & the Gaza Sisters play a style called Tsonga disco, featuring a male lead vocalist backed by female singers, a guitar, keyboard or synth and disco rhythms. Thomas Chauke & the Shinyori Sisters (Tusk Records) have become probably the best-selling band of any neo-traditional style. The most popular Tsonga musician, however, has arguably been either the pop singer Peta Teanet
Peta Teanet
Peta Teanet was a South African disco musician of Tsonga descent.He lived at Thapane village, in Bolobedu south at GaModjadji. He attended school at Kgwekgwe high school. His debut album, Maxaka was recorded in 1988. His music was influenced by the late Paul Ndlovu...
or the equally successful Penny Penny.
Paul Ndlovu is another artist who has contributed a lot in this genre, with his popular hit, hi ta famba moyeni.
Pedi-traditional
Pedi-traditional music is principally harepa and is based on the harpHarp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
. The German autoharp
Autoharp
The autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
arrived in South Africa in the nineteenth century, brought by Lutheran ministers proselytizing among the Pedi. Harepa has not achieved much mainstream success in South Africa, though there was a brief boom in the 1970s, led by Johannes Mohlala.
Venda-traditional
Venda-traditional music was also recorded when black music in South Africa was being recognised. The late 1960s (and, more significantly the late 1970s) saw a boom in Venda-speaking artists. This was mainly influenced by the launch of a Venda radio station.Irene Mawela (who had been singing in the 1960s and 1970s with groups like Mahotella Queens
Mahotella Queens
The Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...
, Sweet Sixteens and the Dark City Sisters
Dark City Sisters
The Dark City Sisters were a South African female vocal group, who formed in 1958 and recorded several hit records in the 1960s, helping usher in a new style of South African music later brought to global prominence by the Mahotella Queens....
) made a huge mark in traditional and contemporary Venda music, despite vocal recordings in Zulu, Sotho and Xhosa languages. Mawela's 1983 release, Khanani Yanga, was one of the most successful Venda-traditional music albums of that year. After some lean years, Mawela returned to the South African music scene with Tlhokomela Sera, released in December 2007. Mawela's recent numbers like Mme Anga Khotsi Anga and Nnditsheni are very popular. Solomon Matase is known for his hits Ntshavheni and Vho i fara Phele.
Alpheus Ramavhea, Mundalamo, Eric Mukhese, and Adziambei Band are also famous in the Venda music fratenity. The latter band is still continuing with their successful run, releasing another album recently. Having more than 20 years in the industry Colbert Mukwevho has done much in Venda music. In the 80s his hits like Kha tambe na thanga dzawe, i do nera rothe and saga-saga were popular. In 2006 his comeback album Mulovha namusi na matshelo' with hits like ndo takala hani and zwa mutani wavho remain popular with Venda and Pedi's. He grew up in a family of music. His father Christopher Mukwevho then leader of Threlling Artist-the popular band used to feature him at young age. Others include TAKZIT, Humbulani Ramagwedzha, Jahman Chiganja, Khakhathi and Friends, Maduvha Madima, Takalani Mudau, Rapson Mbilummbi Rambuwani, TMan Gavini, Mizo Phyll, Killah Gee, Jininka, Paul Mulaudzi, Malondo Ramulongo, Burning Doctor, Just ice, Lufuno Dagada & Tshidino Ndou.
Tshidino Ndou of Vhadino Entertainment is a reggae artist making a name for himself in the entertainment industry. He dropped two banging albums, Ndi do fa na inwi(2009) - Till death do us part and Nne Ndi Nne(2010) - I am what I am. Tshidino was born and bred in Tshakhuma, a rural village in South Africa in the Limpopo Province. His song "Ni songo nyadza" meaning "do not undermine other people's religions" featuring a Venda reggae icon Humbulani Ramagwedzha of thivhulungiwi fame is gaining shocking airplays on Phalaphala FM, Soweto TV, Makhado FM and Univen radio.
Tshidino entered the music scene as a member of Vhadino House Grooves group which he established alongside his brother, Arthur Ndou in 2008. They released their debut hot album titled Ro Swika meaning we have arrived. The album contains a controversial song "Ri ya groova widely known as "Ndo Fara Mudifho". He is currently recording his new album featuring takalani Mudau of baby fusheani fame.
Tshidino is not just a musician but also a well known film producer who is more popular in the Vendawood film industry in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. He plays the character of Vho-Mulingo in Vho-Mulingo comedy. Other movies he produced include Mathaithai, Hu do dzula nnyi, Mphemphe i a netisa and Hu bvuma na fhasi.
Tshidino is currently busy with his long awaited movie called The Fakebook which is already on everybody's lips. The highly rated Vendawood filmmaker told Mo Flava in the Morning Flava show on YFM radio station of South Africa that the movie has already created a hype and is expected to cause havoc in the film industry as it deals with Facebook issues. Tshidino is the owner of Dzhatsha Films and Vhadino Entertainment companies. For more about Tshidino, visit www.dzhatshafilms.co.za.
Xhosa-traditional
Perhaps the best known neo-traditional South African music, internationally anyway, is the music of AmampondoAmampondo
Amampondo is a South African percussion ensemble which was started by Dizu Plaatjies in Langa Cape Town in 1978. The other founding members were Simpiwe Matole; Michael Ludonga; Mzwandile Qotoyi; Leo Mbizela and Mandla Lande.-Origins:...
and the solo work of their leader and founder, Dizu Plaatjies
Dizu Plaatjies
Dizu Plaatjies is the founder and former leader of the South African group, Amampondo. He is a graduate of the University of Cape Town School of Music and now lectures there in African Music. Since leaving Amampondo he has started a new ensemble called Ibuyambo...
. He and his group took traditional Xhosa music from the hills of Pondoland and the Eastern Cape and put is on stage world-wide. The success of the genre was how the exponents combined their music with their stage performances and dance.
See also
- List of Afrikaans singers
- List of radio stations in South Africa
- List of South African musicians
- Music of NamibiaMusic of NamibiaThe music of Namibia has a number of folk styles, as well as pop, rock, reggae, jazz, house and hip hop. The Sanlam-NBC Music Awards and the Namibian Music Awards are two separate institutions that give out annual awards at shows on December 2 and May 6 respectively...
Further reading
- Xulu, M.K., "The Re-emergence of Amahubo Songs, Styles and Ideas in Modern Zulu Musical Styles." PhD dissertation, University of NatalUniversity of NatalThe University of Natal was a university in Natal, and later KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, that is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It was founded in 1910 as the Natal University College in Pietermaritzburg, and expanded to include a campus in Durban in 1931. In 1947, the university...
. 1992
External links
- Find Music from South Africa - South African Bands,Music and Events Website
- SA Music website
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (120 minutes): South Africa 1995. (Sony Radio Award Winner, 1995.) Accessed November 25, 2010.